Effects of air exposure, time, temperature, and humidity on different serum electrolytes

Background: Pre-analytical, analytical, or post analytical variations can induce, change, or alter the tests results. Laboratory errors lead to unnecessary delays in test report and also increased costs by repeat samples which have become a pain to the patients. Aims and Objectives: The aims of this study were to determine alterations in the concentration of serum sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), and ionized calcium (Ca++) concentration with reference to air exposure, time, temperature, and humidity. Materials and Methods: Fifty samples as case and 50 samples as control were included from a normal healthy population in this study. After getting the samples, first readings were taken for case samples and were uncapped and the remaining samples were set aside capped at 24°C, 20% humidity for half an hour and followed by second reading which was taken. Results: Variation in the mean serum sodium between groups is 0.06 mEq/L (0.04%) and 0.08 mEq/L (0.07%) which is very negligible and insignificant (P > 0.05). The mean level of serum K+ in cases is 4.35 mEq/L and in controls is 4.27 mEq/L. After half an hour, the mean level of serum K+ in cases is 4.51 mEq/L and, in controls, is 4.29 mEq/L. Hence, the variation in results in cases is 0.16 mEq/L (3.68%) and in controls is 0.02 mEq/L (0.47%) which is highly significant (P < 0.05). The mean level of serum Ca++ in cases is 1.15 mmol/L and in controls is 1.17 mmol/L. After half an hour, the mean level of serum Ca++ in cases is 1.09 mmol/L and in controls is 1.16 mmol/L. Hence, the variation in results in cases is 0.06 mmol/L (5.22%) and in controls is 0.01 mmol/L (0.85%) which is highly significant (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Air exposure significantly alters the serum K+ and Ca++ level, but the alteration in serum Na+ level is not significant.

Correlation of oxidative stress and serum gonadotropins in female infertility - A cross sectional study in a tertiary care hospital in Eastern Zone of India

Background: Infertility is a very important issue to family and society. Oxidative stress (OS) may affect ovulation, fertilization, embryo development, and implantation resulting in infertility in women. Gonadotropins are required for follicle development and estrogen production, hence low levels of these hormones may result infertility. Aim and Objectives: Our aim was to study OS and serum gonadotropins level in infertile women and to study whether the OS has any effect on gonadotropins level in infertile women. Materials and Methods: It is a hospital-based cross-sectional study. The study group included 50 infertile women in the age of 20–45 years. Age-matched 50 women without a history of infertility were selected as control. Serum samples were collected on the third day of the menstrual cycle and assayed for carbonylation of serum protein, a marker of OS by Levine’s method and Serum Follicle-stimulating hormone and luteinizing hormone by Chemiluminescence Immunoassay method in ADVIA, Centaur CP (SIEMENS) autoanalyzer. Statistical analysis of data was done by SPSS software. P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: From our study, we observed that OS was significantly high in infertile women than control (P < 0.05). Serum gonadotropins levels were significantly low in infertile women than control (P < 0.05). Our study shows significant negative correlations between OS and serum gonadotropins level in infertile women (P < 0.001). Conclusion: It can be concluded that both OS and low serum gonadotropin levels may be etiological factors for infertility in women. Oxidative can cause infertility by direct effect on reproduction physiology as well as by lowering gonadotropin level. So OS and serum gonadotropin levels can be emphasized in case of treatment of female infertility.

Role of glycemic control on lipid profile in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus-a cross-sectional study in tertiary care hospital of West Bengal

Background: Dyslipidemia is one of the common conditions associated with poor glycemic control in Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients. It is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease which is the leading cause of death in these patients. Glycated Hemoglobin (HbA1c) is the gold standard test for monitoring glycemic control. Thus, the level of HbA1c could potentially be utilized as a possible biomarker for predicting the risk of dyslipidemia. However, there is a discrepancy in the data available till now regarding the relationship between HbA1c and the lipid profile. Hence, it requires further studies. Aim and Objectives: The present study was conducted to assess the role of glycemic control (as indicated by HbA1c level in blood) on lipid profile of patients with T2DM. Materials and Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study done over a period of 5 months. Total 165 participants were randomly selected from out patient department OPD of which 138 were diagnosed cases of T2DM and 27 were age and sex-matched non-diabetic healthy individuals. Patients of T2DM were sub grouped based on American Diabetic Association Criteria (2013) as having either controlled diabetes with HbA1c ?7% or uncontrolled diabetes with HbA1c >7%. Blood samples collected from all the participants were analyzed for HbA1c and lipid profile using standard methods. The collected data were analyzed with Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software using appropriate statistical method. Results: In the present study, we found a significant positive correlation between HbA1c and total cholesterol, Triglyceride, Low-density lipoproteins, and very low-density lipoproteins (P < 0.01) though high-density lipoprotein was not significantly correlated with HbA1c level. Conclusion: We concluded that apart from a reliable index of glycemic control, HbA1c can also be used as a predictor of dyslipidemia in T2DM patients, and thus regular monitoring of it can help us to reduce the mortality of these patients.

Induced breeding of Catla catla carried out at low temperature in FRP carp hatchery of Arunachal Pradesh, India

Aim: The present study was undertaken to find out the possibilities of induced breeding of Catla catla, at low water temperature using fibre reinforced (FRP) tanks in a carp hatchery. Methodology: Brood fish of C. catla was maintained in 0.1 ha pond with proper feeding and pond management. Six induced breeding programmes: 3 in April (pre-monsoon) and 3 in June (monsoon) of 2017 were conducted with C. catla using synthetic hormone, Ovasis intra-peritoneally. The relationship between temperature variation and latency period, effective spawning period, fecundity, hatching start time, hatching duration and spawn production with its recovery was observed. Results: The latency period (time gap between injection and first egg release) was very high and ranged between 653.3 and 721.6 min for breeding in the pre-monsoon and ranged between 446.6 and 480 min for monsoon period. In pre-monsoon, the effective spawning period between 86.6 and 116.6 min and in monsoon between 53.3 and 73.3 min; both varied significantly (p˂0.05). In pre-monsoon period, the average water temperature during larval incubation in hatching pool ranged between 21.58 and 22.58ºC, whereas during monsoon period it ranged between 30.1 and 30.4ºC. The spawn production was 0.13 to 0.22; and 0.47 to 0.65 (lakh kg-1 b. wt. of female) in pre-monsoon and monsoon period, respectively, and showed a significant difference (p˂0.05). Interpretation: This report on breeding of C. catla in the temperature range of 18.6-24.7oC indicates the possibility of spawn production of Indian Major Carp in the north east hilly region states of India

Application of 16S rDNA based seminested PCR for diagnosis of acute bacterial meningitis.

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: The diagnosis of bacterial meningitis remains a challenge to the clinician because of its rapid lethal course lacking the consistency to particular clinical signs and symptoms. Moreover, in many clinical settings use of rampant and short course antibiotic therapy prior to lumbar puncture reduces the chance of isolation of bacteria in CSF culture making the diagnosis difficult. The present study was done to evaluate a multiplex seminested PCR based method for rapid diagnosis of bacterial meningitis even after initiation of antibiotics. METHODS: A 16S rDNA based PCR technique was evaluated using universal bacterial primers to detect any bacterial pathogen in CSF samples. The simultaneous use of three species-specific primers in a multiplex and seminested PCR format was done to identify Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria meningitidis within 4 h. RESULTS: Analysis of 267 CSF samples obtained from suspected cases of acute bacterial meningitis revealed 94 per cent concordance in results for conventional (Gram stain and culture) and molecular methods. Conventional techniques failed to detect five PCR positive samples where clinical diagnosis, cell count and biochemical findings of CSF supported the evidence of infection. The overall sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value of 16S rDNA PCR were 79.24, 97.6, 89.36 and 94.88 per cent respectively when culture was considered as gold standard. The detection limit of 16S rDNA PCR was determined to be 1000 cfu/ml of E. coli and 4000 cfu/ml of S. pneumoniae. INTERPRETATION & CONCLUSION: The results suggest that 16S rDNA PCR can be used as a valuable supplementary test in routine clinical practice for diagnosis of acute bacterial meningitis in hospital setting.

Altered lipid peroxidation and antioxidant potential in human uterine tumors.

A comparative study of lipid peroxidation and antioxidant potential has been made in human uterus and uterine tumor. Two types of uterine tumor used are: tumor (I), a fibroid which is the commonest benign solid tumor in uterus and tumor (II), an adenomyoma. Tumor microsomes are less susceptible to lipid peroxidation induced by both enzymic (NADPH-ADP-Fe3+ and xanthine-xanthine-oxidase) and non-enzymic (ascorbate-Fe2+) systems except in the case of tumor (II) microsomes when induced with xanthine-xanthine oxidase. Resistance of tumor microsomes to lipid peroxidation is associated with the low content of substrates in the form of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), higher level of alpha-tocopherol, reduced glutathione and protein thiols and altered enzymic antioxidant potential (catalase and superoxide dismutase).

Chronic myelogenous leukemia: alterations in red cell membrane band 3 and increased IgG binding.

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is a hematologic malignancy arising from an abnormal hemopoietic stem cell. Our earlier studies have identified defects in spectrin tetramer formation and organization of cytoskeletal proteins (Basu et al., Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1988, 121-126); and decreased ankyrin binding to ankyrin-depleted vesicles in CML patients. These may lead to clustering of band 3 and increased binding of autologous IgG. This has now been explored by studying the binding of 125I-protein A to normal and CML erythrocytes. There is increased binding of 125I-protein A in CML erythrocytes compared to normal erythrocytes. Since binding of autologous IgG is responsible for removal of erythrocytes from the circulation, the above findings suggest that CML erythrocytes are likely to be prematurely removed from the circulation, accounting for anemia.

Effect of supplementation with exogenous fatty acid on the biological properties of a fatty acid requiring auxotroph of Salmonella typhimurium.

The effects of changes in fatty acid composition of the cell membrane on different biological functions of Salmonella typhimurium have been studied with the help of a temperature sensitive fatty acid auxotroph which cannot synthesise unsaturated fatty acids at high temperature. On being shifted to nonpermissive temperature the cells continue growing for another one and half to two generations. The rates of protein and DNA syntheses run parallel to the growth rate but the rate of RNA synthesis is reduced. Further, there is a gradual reduction in the rate of transport of exogenous uridine and thymidine into the soluble pool. The transport process can be restored by supplementing the growth medium with cis-unsaturated fatty acids but not trans-unsaturated ones although the growth of the cells is resumed by supplementation with either cis or trans-unsaturated fatty acids. However, supplementation with trans, trans-unsaturated fatty acids leads to only partial recovery of the transport process. The rate of oxygen uptake is also affected in cells grown in the presence of the trans-unsaturated fatty acids, elaidic acid and palmitelaidic acid. Analysis of cells grown under different fatty acid supplementation indicate that fatty acid composition of the cell membrane, especially the ratio of unsaturated to saturated fatty acids varies with temperature shift and supplementation of the growth media with fatty acids.

Effect of sealing on the incorporation of pyrene in goat erythrocyte ghosts – Α fluorescence study.

The incorporation of pyrene within the membrane interior of goat erythrocyte ghost has been estimated from its fluorescence spectrum. The excimer to monomer fluorescence intensity ratio of embedded pyrene is a function of the fluidity of its environment and the magnitude of its incorporation. Our study shows that this ratio is considerably less (30%) in a pre-sealed ghost than in the non-sealed ghost revealing that the site of incorporation of the probe is indeed the hydrophobic interior of the membrane; as in the later case, the probe has access to the membrane interior from both sides of the membrane. Our study on kinetics of molecular exchange indicates a very fast (of the order of seconds) transfer rate of pyrene from probed to unprobed erythrocyte ghosts through the aqueous phase rather than actual fusion of the membranes.